Foundation and Corporate Giving

When you give to the Queens Library Foundation you are helping neighbors -- children, families, adults, and seniors -- access free programs  that foster a lifelong love of learning, develop skills that transform lives,  and build strong communities.Your gift provides more books, resources, and programs to your community library and ensures Queens Library is for everyone! 

Contributions to the Annual Fund are welcome at any time during the calendar year. The Annual Fund provides support for the many programs and services offered at Queens Library as well as fiction and non-fiction books, reference books, large print books, reference materials, E-Books, videos/DVDs, CD’s and Books on Tapes/CDs.

Contributors of $100 or more annually are listed on our Supporters page and in our Annual Report, and this level of gift entitles you to join one of our Giving Circles: 

Librarian’s Circle ($100-$249): Listing in Queens Library Magazine and Quarterly Impact Report with special updates about Queens Library

Editor’s Circle ($250-$499): all of the above, plus Invitation to “Inside Queens Library” events and Queens Library Foundation Stylus Pen 

Author's Circle ($500-$999): all of the above, plus Invitation to exclusive recognition event for donors and Queens Library Tote Bag

Publisher’s Circle ($1,000+): all of the above, plus Tour and Conversation with Community Library Manager at the Library of your choice 

Please support Queens Library Foundation today

Planned Giving is another way to invest in the future of Queens Library, the future of our beloved borough, our children, and all those of whatever economic and social background, who seek a better life through education and enlightenment

Planned Giving includes gifts to the Queens Library Foundation through your will or living trust, your pension or IRA, a life insurance policy, a charitable trust, gifts of real estate or other appreciated assets. Using a planned giving vehicle, you can combine your estate planning and your financial and philanthropic objectives. Of course, advice from legal and tax counsel should be sought when considering a charitable gift of any type.

Charitable Bequests can be made in the form of a specific gift of cash or property, or as a percentage of an estate, whichever is best for your circumstances. You can also bequeath specific assets to the Queens Library Foundation including stocks, real estate, or other tangible property. A Charitable Bequest can be easily included in your Will or Living Trust when it is written or revised. A bequest may also be added through a Codicil, a separate document amending your existing Will or Living Trust. All charitable bequests are fully deductible from your gross estate. The following examples illustrate some bequest techniques. To ensure your estate is distributed in the manner desired by you and your heirs, we encourage you to discuss these matters with a qualified estate planner. For example:

"I bequeath (dollar amount or description of property) to Queens Library Foundation, a non-profit corporation, located at 89-11 Merrick Boulevard Jamaica, New York 11432.

• Specific Bequest is a gift of a particular dollar amount or a particular piece of property.
• Residuary Bequest is a gift of all or part of the property remaining in your estate after debts, expenses, and specific bequests have been paid. When you use a percentage instead of a specific amount, your gift will stay relatively the same in proportion to your entire estate, regardless of unexpected increases or decreases in its value.
• Contingent Bequest is a gift that takes effect only if the primary beneficiary or beneficiaries of the bequest predecease you.
• Restricted Bequest limits the use of the gift to a specific community library/department, program or purpose.
• Retirement Plans, Pensions and IRAs: You can name Queens Library Foundation as the beneficiary of your retirement plan, pension and IRAs. By using the standard beneficiary designation form that includes your name and social security number, you determine the primary beneficiary to be: The Queens Library Foundation.
• Life Insurance Policies. Queens Library Foundation welcomes gifts of life insurance when the policy is paid in full and the Foundation is named as the owner and the irrevocable beneficiary of the policy. Queens Library Foundation will accept gifts of life insurance policies that are not paid in full at the time of the gift when the policy

Charitable Trusts are legal entities that allow you to set aside money for particular causes or organizations, while retaining control over the investments and the distribution of funds. You get tax deductions for your donations, during your lifetime? For example:

• Charitable Remainder Trust allows you to receive income for life from the trust assets with the trust principal distributed to charity upon your death.
• Charitable Lead Trust allows you to distribute current income to the charities named in the trust agreement for a specific term, and distributes the trust principal to the individuals named by you at the end of the trust term

Gifts of Real Estate allow you to leverage a significant asset for your benefit and for that of Queens Library. While supporting the Library’s mission, you can save on taxes, increase your income, and/or reduce the burden of maintaining or selling your property. Gifts can be made with residential, commercial, or undeveloped real estate.

Publically Traded Securities Personally held for more than one year-such as stocks, bong or mutual funds-are a tax-efficient way to support Queens Library. You may claim a charitable tax deduction based on the gift's full fair market value (the value of your gift is the average of the high and low of the security's value on the day your gift is made).

Closely Held-or Privately Held Securities You also may give Queens Library Foundation closely held securities in companies that are not publically traded. Given the complexity of closely held securities and the specific Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations on valuing closely held securities, it is important to consult with your financial and legal advisors and Queens Library Foundation before making your gift. If you are able to contribute you closely held securities to Queens Library foundation you may deduct the appraised value of your gift and avoid capital gain tax; however the IRS will require an appraisal from a qualified appraiser to substantiate your deduction.

Artwork, Rare Books and others Collectibles can be donated to the Queens Library Foundation for a charitable income tax deduction. Queens Library Foundation will work with you to review the property to determine if it is an appropriate gift for the Library. A qualified appraisal of the donated property will be required for tax purposes.

As in the examples noted above, please note the full legal name of the Library's Foundation is The Queens Library Foundation. Our legal address is 89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica, New York 11432

For more information about planned giving, contact the Queens Library Foundation at 718-480-4273 or foundation@queenslibrary.org

The Queens Library Foundation is hosting the Queens Library 2018 Gala, on Tuesday, October 23rd at the Queens Museum. The evening will begin with a cocktail hour at 6:30 p.m. then dinner and program at 7:30 p.m. 

The honorees are Carl Galioto, FAIA, President, HOK; Peter M. Meyer, President, New York City Market, TD Bank; Ana L. Oliveira, President and CEO, The New York Women’s Foundation and Hon. Edward L. Sadowsky, former New York City Council Member.

For additional information, contact Stephanie Thomas at queenslibrarygala@stetwin.com or visit the gala website.

If you have already made, or are considering making a gift to Queens Library, it’s likely that your values are aligned with those of the Library, and you believe these values should be preserved for the future. Queens Library believes that:

• Free access to information and knowledge is indispensable to the development of human potential, the advancement of civilization, and the continuance of an enlightened democracy.
• All Library users should have rapid and comprehensive access to knowledge and information, regardless of their age, ethnicity or status.
• Queens Library is an active partner in the development and implementation of technology to ensure that access to knowledge and information will be equitably available to all.
• The Library encourages, recognizes and rewards the creativity, productivity and individual responsibility of our customers and our employees.

If these our values resonate with you, and you want to see them preserved – please consider making an endowment or planned gift in support of the Queens Library.

When you invest in the future of the Library, you invest in the future of our nation, its children, and all those, of whatever economic and social background, who seek a better life through education and enlightenment.

An endowment gift guarantees the future of your most cherished Library programs and services, providing untold benefits to future generations of library users, just like that of Andrew Carnegie, whose century old endowments are the foundation of our public library system

You can recognize family members while living or create a permanent memorial to a loved one through a gift of $50,000 or more to the Queens Library Foundation. The donation can be made at one time or through a multiyear pledge.

The principal of the endowment will be retained, and the funds earned each year through investment will be spent on the purpose for which you established the endowment.

I want to be contacted by Queens Library Foundation about making an endowment foundation@queenslibrary.org